CCC

The Cumbria Individual Chess Championship was held at the Graithwaite Hotel in Grange-over-Sands from 6^th to 8^th March 2010. The championship was very well organised, in a somptuous hotel, by Hillary Austin and Nick Hill from Grange chess club. There was a very good attendance with a minimum of 20 players in each section, and many prizes to win. The tournament being open to non-Cumbrian members, a more significant proportion of "external" players than last year turned up, mainly in the Open section.

No less than 8 members of Cockermouth chess club entered the tournament:
- John Jarmany, David Jarmany, Roger Hart and Neil Jones played in the Open section,
- Philippe Gleizon, Bill Henderson and Ian Stone played in the Major section, and
- Peter Blackmore played in the Minor section.

The County Champions for this year are Robert Patla and Jaroslav Vrubl finishing with the score 4/5, both bearing the title Cumbrian Champion and holding the trophy for next year (equally six months each). The controverses about the pairings in the Open section and the final tie should not make us forget the quality of this tournament nor how challenging it was in all sections.

There was no outstanding performance from the Cockermouth players, although some were close to win a prize. David and John Jarmany both battled side to side until the last round in an attempt to finish in the top three. Sadly both games on round 5 were lost and hope for prizes vanished too.

In the major section, Philippe Gleizon finished with 3 points having lost two games against Eggert Früchtenicht (Penrith) and Peter Caufield (Windermere), who finished first and second of the Major section, respectively.